


heart of courage, borne of love

by herwhiteknight



Series: yours, mine and ours [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, Ficlet, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Post-Battle, bath cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:28:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26722930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/herwhiteknight/pseuds/herwhiteknight
Summary: After a vicious battle against a horde of Grimm, the girls all look after one another.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Ilia Amitola/Blake Belladona/Pyrrha Nikos/Yang Xiao Long, Ilia Amitola/Pyrrha Nikos
Series: yours, mine and ours [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1193347
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	heart of courage, borne of love

**Author's Note:**

> i blame my friend petra for this one, bc they made a LOVELY edit of ilia with these long beautiful twin braids and we were talking about ilia with these braids fighting furiously, braids going one way, lightning lash going the other ... then i said "okay but celtic/viking warrior ilia" and like. then i just. ended up with this sfkshkhgh enjoy!
> 
> also the title inspo is the song "heart of courage" by two steps from hell because it was exactly the kind of tone i wanted this fic to have

After the battle, Ilia is exhausted. She’s covered in grime - dirt, sweat and blood crusting and flaking at her skin and coming off in rust coloured patches. “It’s not mine,” she reassures Yang and Blake as the rush up to her, concern fraught across their features. “It’s not mine,” she repeats as Pyrrha approaches her next and presses a small kiss onto the crown of her head.

“Are you alright?” Pyrrha murmurs against her hair, pulling her into a heated embrace. Blake and Yang join the little circle - they’re _all_ covered in the aftermath of the war, but they have each other and no one cares about the trauma that falls from their shoulders.

“Yeah,” she nods, soaking in the embrace. “I’m… yeah. I’m okay. Just very tired.”

“Let’s go home then, loves,” Pyrrha whispers to them all, catching Yang’s soft eyes over Blake and Ilia’s heads as they hold each other close.

Pyrrha starts a bath the moment they all set foot inside their apartment. Clothes are haphazardly strewn across the apartment to be picked up later, and they all trail fingertips and soft lips across each others skin in silent communication of the fact that they’re all safe and uninjured. 

By some unspoken consent - perhaps it was the way that Ilia’s freckles were barely even visibly past the dirt and the blood - Ilia carefully lowers herself into the tub first. It’s big enough, of course, for at least two - and sometimes all four if they feel like sharing laps - and so Pyrrha sinks in behind her and gently teases her fingers through Ilia’s twin braids.

“You did a good job on them,” Ilia remarks with a quiet sigh at the feel of Pyrrha’s fingers running through her hair. At the other side of the spacious bathroom, Blake and Yang are slipping into the shower, quiet voices drifting through the steam that’s just beginning to wreathe through the room. 

Pyrrha laughs quietly, the sound bouncing around the tiled space. “I think I should be thanking whatever bloodbath you got yourself into that glued everything together instead.”

Ilia hums, too bone-weary to reply as Pyrrha slowly eases her backwards onto her chest so that she can dunk Ilia’s hair under the water. “It was close, sometimes,” she murmurs, a little bit of adrenaline surging through her body at the memory of so many Grimm bearing down on her as she stood in the streets, alone. Pyrrha senses this - the way she always seems to sense even the slightest bit of discomfort from Ilia - and remedies the tension by leaning down and pressing a quick kiss to her temple. 

Ilia breathes out, lets herself feel the warmth of the water soothing the aches in her muscles, to feel Pyrrha’s touch all around her as it soothes the aches in her soul. “But then I remembered you,” she murmurs, eyes cracking open just slightly to taken in Pyrrha’s loving expression above her. “All of you. And I knew I had to fight. I had to survive - I couldn’t let myself even think about the possibility of leaving any of you behind.”

“And fight you did, sweetheart,” Pyrrha whispers, resting her hands against Ilia’s shoulders. Free from the layer of grime now, her skin can clearly be seen flashing a deep appreciative purple and bleeding into a muted gold of contentment. “You’re the very bravest of us. And we all love you very much.”

Ilia reaches over and pulls Pyrrha’s palm against her chest, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. “I’m so in love with you,” she says softly, her eyes finding Blake and Yang as well as they help each other scrub the battle from their bodies. Her heart swells. “I’m so in love with all of you.”


End file.
